Soundgarden brings '90s metal back to stage

You think 16 years was a long wait for a new Soundgarden studio album? Well, the wait for a Milwaukee show was even longer.

But there they were, Chris Cornell and company, on the stage at a sold-out Eagles Ballroom on Friday, 19 years after headlining the Marcus Amphitheater at Summerfest in 1994 in their last Milwaukee show.

Appropriately enough, the heavy metal band "for people who don't like heavy metal," as Cornell described Soundgarden in a recent Journal Sentinel feature, opened the night with "Been Away Too Long," the first track off November's comeback album "King Animal." But the way the band played Friday night, it was like it had never been away at all.

In all, Soundgarden played a generous, and consistently energetic, 27 songs across two hours and 15 minutes. There was no opener, nor was one needed. The set list (see it below; available to stream for Spotify members) spanned Soundgarden's entire catalog. There was latest single "By Crooked Steps" with Kim Thayil's tight, engine-revving guitar riffs; the band's interchangeably wistful and unsettling, psychedelic-tinged "Black Hole Sun," its biggest hit released at the peak of its popularity in 1994; and "Hunted Down," a dense garage rocker released on Soundgarden's first EP, "Screaming Life," in 1987.

Cornell, as the big name (he found subsequent fame following the breakup with solo material and supergroup Audioslave) attracted much of the attention and delivered a good bit of the set's power, his gruff wails striking like venom. But "Black Hole Sun" aside, Soundgarden was never primarily about hooks and the charisma of the frontman, but about the intensity and complexity of the sound and the full ensemble that created it. Drummer Matt Cameron kept the energy high Friday, showing off the speed and skills likely enhanced as Pearl Jam's permanent drummer, at one point tearing into an impressive, seemingly effortless drum solo to launch "Ugly Truth." Thayil dazzled practically every song with swirling squeals. And live bassist Ben Shepherd proved to be more critical to the music than any Soundgarden recording had suggested, his rubbery bends of bass strings carrying the load and creating the heft on a number of tracks, most potently on dread-inducing "Worse Dreams" off "King Animal."

One thing that of course is different about the men in Soundgarden now vs. 1994 is that they've aged. Shepherd admitted in an interview that he's physically not as wild as on stage as he used to be, and in terms of stage presence, the band was pretty tame Friday. Cornell bounced around a bit, while Thayil and Shepherd were primarily motionless aside from fast-moving fingers and occasional pivots - that is until the band completely let loose on show closer "Beyond the Wheel." But it was better to have perhaps a physically tamer Soundgarden that sounded this good than to never have had Soundgarden back at all.

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THE TAKEAWAYS

In the coolest gesture of the night, Chris Cornell graciously accepted a shirt a fan made with Soundgarden song name "Hunted Down" on it. Cornell wore it for most of the set, dedicated "Hunted Down" to the fan, and then paused the show so he could autograph it and give it back.

To the lady who angrily snatched my notepad: No, I wasn't trying to steal your purse; it was caught on my jacket and I was trying to get it off. Thanks for letting me snatch my notepad back. Note to self: Bring extra notepad next time.

Share your own takeaways from the concert in the comments section below.

About Piet Levy

Piet Levy covers music for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and TapMilwaukee.com. For more music updates, you can also follow him on Facebook and Instagram​.